The Rape of Lucretia

2/3/2019 through 2/10/2019 | Theatre on the Square

First performed at Glyndbourne in England on 12 July 1946, The Rape of Lucretia is the first of several chamber operas Britten wrote during his distinguished career. According to Roman tradition, Lucretia, who died around 510 BC was a noblewoman in ancient Rome whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius, an Etruscan king’s son, was the cause of a rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy and led to the transition of Roman government from a kingdom to a republic. Britten takes this ancient Roman tale and transforms it into a dramatic work of misguided hubris and great human suffering, narrated by two compassionate storytellers, male and female. The work is one of Britten’s most intimate and moving works and is a masterpiece of the chamber opera genre.